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Baby Shakespeare
Baby Shakespeare TM Baby Shakespeare is a Baby Einstein home video released on December 20, 1999 and is the fourth video in the series. Hosted by Bard the Dragon Puppet, it introduces poetry and thirteen first words- train, flower, apple, cat, grass, frog, leaf, snow, tree, cow, butterfly, ''and ''moon ''through toys, poetry, real-world objects, funny puppet shows, and the enriching music of Ludwig Van Beethoven. It was re-released in 2004 with some sketches changed. Your baby listens to you and others closely, absorbing what you say, and breaking it down into clues that will help him crack the code of adult language. Sketches *Bard the Dragon pops up out of nowhere. The poem ''Custard the Dragon ''by Ogden Nash is recited, and Bard acts it out. (Theme to Symphony No. 9) ''Custard the Dragon had big, sharp teeth, With spikes on top and scales underneath, Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose, And realio, trulio, daggers on his toes. *Opening titles (unknown 1500s music) The title card then disappears in an outburst of bubbles. *A block cart rolls in. 4 alphabet blocks appear on it. *A group of 6 kids sing the ABC song. One of the kids, a baby-gibberish speaking little girl, later giggles as a big boy lifts her up in the air and tells her that he loves her and thinks she is cute. She is later snatched by a fat man, causing the boy to get upset. She struggles and screams as he takes her away. *A toy camera appears. A clown pops out of it. The word train is then recited. *Bard is seen riding on a toy train, pulling the word train behind it. *A sketch of a train is drawn, turning into a live-action footage of a real train. *The poem'' A Modern Dragon by Rowena Bennett is recited. ''The train is a dragon that roars through the dark. He wriggles his tail as he sends out a spark. He pierces the night with his one yellow eye, And all the earth trembles as he rushes by. *Music video: Toys (Rondo A Capriccio, Beethoven (toy cars, gears, kinetic art, etc.)) *The camera appears again, this time with the word flower. *Bard sniffs a flower, then sneezes out the word flower. *A sketch of a flower is drawn, turning into a real flower. The poem A Midsummer Night's Dream ''by Shakespeare is recited. ''I know of a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk roses and with eglantine, There sleeps Titania, sometime of the night, Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight. *A bird puppet notices that his flower is wilted. He waters it, waits a while, and it springs up. He turns around and it wilts back down. The same thing happens again. The bird looks at the flower a third time, and sure enough, it pops back up. Happy, the bird leaves. *A bunch of balls are dropped down a funnel into a chute. *The camera appears again with the word apple. *Bard is seen painting on an easel. he turns the easel around, revealing the word APPLE. *A sketch of an apple appears. *A carton of apples appears, which is tipped over, while The Apple Tree ''by Galway Kinnell is recited. ''It's the fall, and the unfallen apples hold their brightness a little longer into the blue air, holding the dream that they can be brighter. *Music video: Manipulatives (Rondo in C, Beethoven (puzzle, shape sorter, lion)) *The camera appears with the word cat. *A live action cat appears, looking around while The Cat and The Moon ''by W.B Yeats is recited. ''The cat went here and there, and the moon spun round like a top, And the nearest kin of the moon, the creeping cat, looked up. *A green worm is popping in and out of a red apple. *The camera is shown again, this time with the word grass. *A tiger puppet is shown in the grass, then runs away when he hears a lawn mower. The word grass ''appears. *A live-action footage of feet walking in grass is shown with the poem ''Heavenly Grass ''by Tennesee Williams. (Fur Elise, WoO 14, Beethoven) ''My feet took a walk in the heavenly grass All day while the sky shone clear as glass. My feet took a walk in the heavenly grass All night while the lonesome stars rolled past. *The tiger is shown again roaring repeatedly in the grass. A duck arrives and he roars in the duck's face. Confronted by the duck, the tiger runs away. The duck laughs and walks away. *The camera appears again, with the word frog. *Bard walks in front of a stuffed frog on a lily pad. He throws the frog into the "water", laughs, and walks away. The word frog bounces onto the screen. *A sketch of a frog appears, which turns into a real green frog on a rock. The poem Wadassa Nakamoon ''by Ray A. Young Bear is recited. ''Last night, when the yellow moon of November broke through the last line of turbulent midwestern clouds, a lone frog, the same one who probably announced the Spring floods, attempted to sing. *The block cart appears again, and the Baby Shakespeare kids sing the ABC song. *The camera appears with the word leaf. *Bard wildly jumps through a pile of leaves, then leaves. The word leaf falls onto the screen. *A sketch of a leaf appears, which turns into real leaves. Nothing Gold Can Stay ''by Robert Frost is recited. ''Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold, Her early leaf's a flower, But every so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, '' ''So dawn goes down to day-'' ''Nothing Gold Can Stay. *Music video- Kinetic art (Allegro for A Flute Clock, Beethoven) *The camera appears again with the word snow. *Bard is hit by a barrage of snowballs. He then throws a snowball into the air and the word snow appears. *A footage of falling snow in front of trees is shown with the poem Revival ''by Steve Crow. ''Snow is a mind falling, a continuous breath of climbs, loops, spirals, dives into the earth like white fireflies wanting to land, finding a wind between houses, diving like moths into their own light, so that one wonders if snow is a wing's long memory across winter. *A monkey puppet is standing in the snow and is ambushed by a barrage of it. *A toy dog chases toy ducks. *The camera appears again, this time with the word tree. *Bard stands under a tree, then runs away when he hears an owl hooting. The word tree falls from the tree. *A sketch of a cherry blossom tree is drawn, and it turns into a real tree. The poem Loveliest of Trees ''by A.E. Housman is recited. ''Loveliest of trees, the cherry now, Is hung with bloom' along the bow, And stands about the woodland ride, '' ''Wearing white for Easter tide. *Music video: Animals (Military March No. 1, Beethoven (cymbal monkey, gorila, pig, cat)) *The camera appears again, this time with the word cow. *Bard stands behind the fence. The word COW appears with a moo. *A sketch of a brown cow appears, mooing. It turns into a real cow. The Calf Path ''by Sam Walter Foss is recited. ''One day, in the primeival wood, A calf walked home, as good calves should, But made a trail all bent askew, A crooked trail, as all calves do. *The toy dog is chased by the toy ducks. *The camera appears again with the word butterfly. *Bard is running around chasing a butterfly, bumps into a brick wall and faints. The word butterfly ''appears. *A butterfly sketch flies in, which turns into a real butterfly. ''To A Butterfly ''by William Wordsworh is recited. ''I've watched you now, a full half-hour, Self-poised upon that yellow flower, A little butterfly, indeed, I know not if you sleep or feed. How motionless, not frozen seas More motionless, but then What joy awaits you when the breeze Hath found you out in the trees And calls you forth again. *2 black and white cow puppets are grazing. A purple cow arrives and the others walk away. A red butterfly kisses the puprle cow on the nose, and the cow walks away. *Music video: Transportation (Turkish March, The ruins of Athens, Beethoven (train, helicopter) *The camera appears again, this time with the word moon. *Bard is seen going to bed. A moon appears in front of him while My Loves ''by Langston Hughes is recited (Sonata No. 8, Pathetique, 2nd Movement, Beethoven). Good night, Bard. ''I love to see the big white moon A-shining in the sky I love to see the little stars And shadow clouds go by I love the raindrops falling On my rooftop in the night I love the soft wind sighing Before the dawn's gray light. *Closing Credits (Symphony No. 9, 4th Movement, Beethoven) 5 of the kids talk to the puppets, while the little girl plays peekaboo. Trivia/Goofs *All the Beethoven pieces in Baby Shakespeare can be heard on the Baby Beethoven CD *This is the first educational episode. *This is the first episode to feature Beethoven music. *This is Bard's second appearance. *This is Madeline's first appearance. Her second and last appearance is in Baby Van Gogh, shown playing under green streamers and then giggling. She is not in any other videos, because she was kidnapped and killed after Baby Van Gogh was released. Starring Bard the green dragon Madeline Gabriel Margas Sierra Clark Dylan and Dakota snider Aspen Clark Bird puppet Tiger puppet Duck puppet Monkey puppet 2 black and white cow puppets Purple cow puppet